


the suggestion box

by tabfics



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou are Bros, Coffee Shops, Coming Out, Crushes, Flirting, Gen, Konoha is a bitch, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, Kozume Kenma has a Secret Admirer, Light-Hearted, M/M, POV Kozume Kenma, POV Third Person Limited, Past Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Protective Kuroo Tetsurou, Secret Admirer, Secret Crush, Sexual Humor, mentions of Daishou Suguru/Yamaka Mika, will be adding characters and tags as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:21:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25561258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabfics/pseuds/tabfics
Summary: The suggestion box was Kozume Kenma’s least favorite part about his job at the cafe near his university. That is, until a certain someone starts leaving love notes for him to read at the end of each day. The catch? Kenma has no idea who it is.
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/???
Comments: 42
Kudos: 56
Collections: Kenma Ship Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is going to be a chaptered fic that i’ll hopefully update again after kenma ship week is over. there is a kenma pairing, but who? 
> 
> i’ll be adding characters in order as they appear, and tags as i deem necessary. there will be little, if no trigger warnings! this is supposed to be light hearted, so i’ll tag a chapter if it mentions any type of tw. 
> 
> please feel free to leave kudos and comments, id love to hear from you guys! especially if you suspect who is leaving kenma notes... aha. 
> 
> stay tuned for my other kenma ship week works! i’ll be posting one each day this week! 
> 
> \- kel

_ Coffee is consistent. However, people are not.  _

This was Kenma Kozume's core belief in life as a twenty year old struggling to pay bills and get out of university, and as a barista by day at the coffee shop slash cafe near his apartment. 

He felt more at home wearing a smock and taking orders than he did in his own bedroom, he knew his job was not going to fluctuate on him. It was the same daily work, and most of the same customers graced the cafe as well. 

It wasn’t to say he enjoyed his job, he just had found peace in the sense of routine it had brought him amongst his unorganized life. 

He works today, starting at nine in the morning. It was nearing 8:50 as Kenma walked down the sidewalk, tying back his hair.

When he arrives at the shop, it’s already bustling with activity. Two of his coworkers spin around working behind the front counter, but he could tell they were struggling by the way customers stood waiting with toes tapping at the unattended register. 

Kenma sighs. 

He pushes the big wooden door to the back room open and grabs a smock as he walks into the prep and break area, pulling the door closed as he places his phone and wallet on the metal rack where he and his fellow employees keep their belongings. 

He ties his apron and walks to the front, immediately to be greeted by a bothered Kuroo. 

“I texted you to come in early, Kenma,” he murmurs, though plasters a fake smile to his face when he hands a drink off to his last waiting customer. 

Kenma scoffs. “I don’t wake up before 8:30. You should’ve called Konoha.” 

“Fuck Konoha. He’s new and he doesn’t know shit yet.” 

“You knew damn well I wasn’t going to respond to your text,” Kenma tells Kuroo, searching through a little basket on top of a coffee machine for his name tag. 

“Whatever,” Kuroo huffs, walking away to take another order. Kenma continues rummaging through the basket, but is hard-pressed to find the name tag with his own name on it. He groans, knowing full well that if his boss was to find out he lost his engraved name tag that his ass would be in trouble. 

“Kuro, where’s my nametag?” Kenma asks aloud, but garners no response from Kuroo. Instead, the other coworker on his shift replies. 

“Yachi dropped the bin on the ground on Friday by accident when she was trying to reach, then Kuroo stepped on yours because he thought it would be funny and it broke,” Kiyoko replies, her voice delicate as always. She hands Kenma her nametag, as a joke. “You can be Shimizu today.” 

Kenma blinks a few times, but takes the nametag and pins it to his apron anyways. “Who will you be?” 

Kiyoko presses her lips together in thought, then takes the bin from Kenma’s hands. “I don’t know. Let’s see.” 

She looks through the basket for a moment before pulling one out, her eyes shut as she does so. She flips it around to face her and reads the name aloud. “Kuroo.” Kenma snorts. With a shit-eating grin, Kiyoko replies, “Looks like he forgot to put his nametag on. I guess I’ll be Kuroo today.” 

Kenma laughs, but it’s cut short when he asks, “Kuro is the one who will get in trouble for my nametag, right? Not me, right?” 

Kiyoko nods. “Boss said your new one will come in next week, probably. Luckily she was ordering ones for the new trainees already so you’ll get yours back quick.” 

“Good. I’m going to beat Kuro’s ass so hard.” 

“I’m sure you will.” 

Kenma splits a grin and is soon to reply, but is harshly cut off by Kuroo’s loud whining. 

“Kenma! Take these drinks over to the kid in the blue hoodie, he’s waiting at the register,” Kuroo barks, shoving two green matcha lattes into Kenma’s hands. He takes them, albeit he snarls in return. But the sour face is soon to disappear when he approaches one of their regulars standing with his receipt and a soft smile. 

Kenma hands him the drinks and smiles. “Good morning, Kunimi. How’s it going?” 

Kunimi brushes a hand through his hair and sighs. “I have a lot of studying to get done. I’m trying to stall.” His pretty brown eyes rest on Kenma’s with a grin. “How are you?”

“I’m doing well as always,” Kenma replies. He watches Kunimi’s bright expression for a moment before shaking himself out of it. “Good to see you again. Good luck on your exam!”

Kunimi nods, slipping a piece of paper into a brown wooden box sitting beside the register, before he walks out of the shop with his drinks. 

Kenma sighs. 

He personally hates the ‘Suggestion Box’ that his boss had put up. They rarely ever receive any suggestions, usually it’s just memes or drawings or dumb jokes or sometimes even notes bullying the employees (though usually it’s only Kuroo who gets bullied). But even though it’s basically one giant joke to all of the university kids that inhabit the cafe, Kenma’s boss is very strict on the closers opening the box and reading every note that is placed inside in case a real suggestion ever comes along. 

A pen and pad of paper sits at the counter, and at every booth and table in the small coffee shop. Since it’s locally owned, their manager is also the store owner and brand holder, so she cares a lot more about their reputation than a chain store manager might. But so far Kenma has seen no bad reviews, or any that were interesting for that matter. 

He knows that the note Kunimi dropped will just be one among a bunch, because almost every customer that comes in leaves something in the box, whether it’s serious or not. At least, Kenma has seen all of their regulars do it. 

“Kenma, can you go deliver these to the table with the two boys in coats?” Kuro asks, holding two drinks out with a pained expression. He’s being dramatic, but Kenma doesn’t think it’s funny at all. 

“Fine.” 

He takes the drinks and travels out to the main floor. Him and Kiyoko have worked at the cafe since it opened three years ago, so they know most of their regulars by name. Kuroo started a year after them but since Kenma believes he is just dumb, he knows only a few names. Yachi, Konoha, and the others hardly know anything since they’ve only been employed for a few months. A new wave of customers found the cafe, leaving them much more busy and in need of a lot more staff. 

Sitting at a booth are Sugawara and Daichi, both of which are conversing. Kenma could never tell if they were best friends or boyfriends, but he never asked. He gives them their drinks with a smile and greets them quickly. He begins to turn around and head back to the counter when Sugawara stops him. 

“I like your shoes,” he says, to which Kenma spins back around. He has to physically look down at his feet to remember what shoes he threw on this morning, and is confused when he just sees his dirty white sneakers. 

“Thank you? I wear these every day,” Kenma replies, still dumbfounded and staring at his feet.

“I know, I just think they’re cool,” Sugawara says, lightly laughing at himself and Kenma’s confusion. “Thanks for the drinks.”

“Yeah, of course,” Kenma murmurs, walking away. His eyes are still on his feet as he stumbles behind the counter, confused. Kiyoko notices and squints at him, but she shakes it off and goes to make a drink, a receipt in her hand. 

Kuroo stands at the register, yawning loudly, as the door to the shop dings open. Kenma slowly occupies himself with helping Kiyoko, but almost immediately after hearing the door open feels his shoulders being grabbed and shoved in the direction of the register. 

“It’s fucking Daishou,” Kuroo hisses, pushing Kenma towards the register as he occupies himself with pretending to make a drink. 

Kenma scoffs, rubbing his shoulder as he walks himself to the register. Within a few moments, he’s met by Daishou and his girlfriend Mika, who Kenma hasn’t seen in a long time. 

He grins wide and says, “Mika! I haven’t seen you in forever!” 

Mika laughs, a blush dusting her cheeks. “Yeah, it’s been awhile.” 

“What do you have with my girlfriend,” Daishou spits in Kenma’s direction, just for Mika to groan. 

As Kenma is about to reply, Kuroo cuts him off and snarls at Daishou, “What do you have with my best friend, huh?” 

Kenma groans, just like Mika did. They watch each other with pained eyes as Kuroo and Daishou go at it, each defending their respective best friend and girlfriend. Eventually, Kenma cuts them off and tells Kuroo to go to the break room to chill his ass out. 

“What can I get for you two?” He asks wearily, and takes their order on the register. Daishou pays and he hands the receipts off to Kiyoko. 

“Kenma, I love how you’re wearing your hair. It looks beautiful as long as it is,” Mika says, reaching across the counter to take her receipt from Kenma’s hand. He blushes, though not because he’s infatuated but rather pleasantly surprised. 

“T-thank you, that’s very sweet of you,” He stutters in return, then braces a comforting smile. “If you want to go sit, one of us will deliver your drinks to you. If not, you can always wait over by the end of the counter.” 

Mika nods and waves goodbye as she thanks Kenma, who waves back with a shy grin. 

Kuroo peaks his head out from the back room, opening the door to look at Kenma. He deadpans, “She was flirting with you.”

Kenma shakes his head, but Kiyoko doesn’t seem to agree. She cocks her head in his direction. 

“It looks like you have a little bit of a crush, Kenma.” 

Kenma scoffs. “Kiyoko, I’m gay.” 

Kuroo snorts and breaks into laughter when Kiyoko splays a horrified face, immediately covering herself by saying, “Then why do you only flirt with girls here?”

“What!? I don’t flirt with anyone!” Kenma replies, the sound of Kuroo’s laughter growing in the background. “Do I seriously sound like I’m flirting?”

Kiyoko nods. “Yes! I thought you had a thing for Yachi!”

“No! Oh, God no!” Kenma shouts at her, covering his mouth in embarrassment. “I just think she’s adorable, like a little rabbit!” 

“You call her ‘Bunny’, Kenma!”

“It’s cute!”

“It sounds like you’re trying to prey on her,” Kuroo howls, now out of the break room and amidst the conversation. 

Kenma covers his entire face, growing completely red. “I didn’t think that! I just thought she was cute! I thought you guys all knew I was gay.” 

Kiyoko shakes her head, though Kenma can’t see it. “To think, I’m pretty sure she was starting to have the hots for you too, Kenma.”

He pops his head up, horror across his face. “Please say ‘sike’.”

“No, I wouldn’t lie about that.” 

“I--” Kenma sighs. “I don’t know what to say now.” 

Kuroo slides his arm over Kenma’s shoulder. “Uh, maybe I’m gay? Or, maybe you can flirt with the guy customers in front of her. She’s working a shift with us tomorrow.”

Kenma shakes his head. “I hate this.”

“I could kiss you in front of her,” Kuroo grins deviously, waggling his eyebrows. “Be your fake boyfriend.” 

“Fuck no,” Kenma coughs, breaking himself out of Kuroo’s grasp. “I would rather date Yachi than you.”

Kuroo gasps, pretending to be shocked. But Kenma knows he’s faking, they’ve been best friends for as long as he can remember. So maybe he was lying a little bit, because he knows full well that he has a complete soft spot for Kuroo. He would never say that out loud, though. 

Kiyoko sighs and gives Daishou and Mika’s drinks to Kenma. “You should go flirt with Daishou, see what happens.” 

Kenma shakes his head. “No,” he says, then makes a heart with his freehand’s thumb and pointer finger in her direction. She kicks him in the leg on his way out to the main floor. 

She hears Mika ask, “Why are you wearing Shimizu’s name tag?” from the back, and laughs out loud because not only did someone finally realize, but Kuroo still hasn’t realized that she is wearing his. 

A few hours pass, and eventually three o clock comes for Kiyoko, Kuroo, and Kenma to close the coffee shop. They go through their procedures and chores quickly, then grab their things and situate themselves at a booth with the suggestion box. 

“Let’s see what genius we’ve earned today,” Kiyoko says, pulling the top off of the wooden box and spilling its contents out on the table. Since today was busier, more notes appeared. Kenma and Kuroo groan at the sheer amount of ‘suggestions’ that sit crumpled on the table. “Let’s get to work, fellas.” 

So the three of them do, silently picking up slips and ripping them or putting them aside. 

Kiyoko reads aloud, “I do not like that bitchass kid with the bedhead. This is a professional environment, please make him brush his hair.” 

Kenma sighs, then says, “I wonder who they’re talking about.”

“Shut up,” Kuroo responds, punching Kenma in the shoulder. Kiyoko and Kenma laugh, but Kuroo does not find the note funny whatsoever. Kiyoko rips it and throws it in the trash can they pulled beside them. 

Kenma picks one up and snorts as he reads it. “I am very upset at the energy in this environment today. Plus, the pretty lady did not make me my coffee today and it tasted like shit.” 

Kiyoko rolls her eyes. “I’m ninety percent sure that was Ryuu. Hand me the paper.”

“Yeah, he came in today while you were taking a piss,” Kuroo replies, nodding. 

She examines the handwriting, then nods. “Yep. That’s my fiance for you.”

“What a jerk,” Kuroo scoffs. “I made his latte exactly how he asked for it.”

Kenma and Kiyoko immediately scrunch their noses in agreement. Kenma tells Kuroo, “You make lattes worse than the trainees do. Stick to tea and literally any other coffees, okay?” 

Kuroo huffs and picks up another paper. “Whatever,” he says, watching as Kiyoko rips the slip and throws it in the trash. 

He scans his slip quickly and is about to rip it when suddenly he takes more interest in it. He grins while looking at it, capturing the attention of Kiyoko and Kenma. “What the hell is up with you?” Kenma asks, wearily albeit. 

“This slip says, ‘Please tell me the cute barista boy with the brunet-blond hair is single’ with a heart,” Kuroo says aloud, his chest full as he grins wider. 

Kenma is quick to try and snatch the paper from Kuroo, knowing damn well that it’s about him and it was rightfully his. When his attempt fails, he huffs and gives up--watching as Kiyoko tries her hand.

Swifter than a coursing river with all the strength of a great typhoon, she grabs Kuroo’s entire arm and plucks the sheet from his hand, slowly examining it with a soft smile before handing it to Kenma. “A confession? That’s adorable.” 

“How are you going to reply, huh?” Kuroo asks, taking an interest as Kenma reads over the form. 

**_Date_ ** _ : feb 11 (i think?)  _

**_Please leave your suggestion for ‘The Moon Cafe’ here_ ** _ :  _

_ plz tell me the cute barista boy w the brunet-blond hair is single <3 _

Kenma feels his heart skip a beat as he reads the note and rereads it. The handwriting is what he believes to be a boy’s, but it’s written with a purple pen, which means the person wrote with their own pen. All of the pens at the cafe are black, so they had to have been prepared enough to bring their own. Lots of boys don’t just carry pens around in their pockets, but purses usually have pens in them. 

His mind runs a million miles an hour as he reads the note over and over again, assessing each and every nuance of the handwriting, spelling, and grammar. Not to mention the person got the date wrong. It was February 10th, not 11th. 

Kenma feels his chest tighten with hope, and a little bit of excitement. He meekly smiles at Kiyoko, who smiles right back. “So? Are you single?”

Kenma nods, but drops his head soon after. “How will I tell them that? What if it’s a girl? I don’t want to date a girl.” 

Kuroo shrugs. “Trust your gut, Ken. Who knows? Maybe your secret admirer will leave another note soon.” 

Deep in thought, Kenma murmurs, “Okay,” as Kuroo and Kiyoko finish reading and discarding the suggestion notes. Kiyoko puts the box back in its place and puts the trash out, then the three of them lock up and leave the store. 

Kenma thinks about the note, which sits safe in his palm, the entire time that Kuroo drives him back to his apartment. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Another day of work meant another day that Kenma was able to follow a calm routine. Except this time he was much, much more on edge. Stalking the customers of the cafe as they dropped notes into the suggestion box was not a usual part of his daily schedule. No, today was an abnormality not only for him, but also for his coworkers who were surprised by how slow the shop was this morning. 

The grand old clock sitting against one of the cream-colored walls strikes seven a.m., letting the entirety of the cafe know by chiming seven consecutive times. 

Kenma sighs. He stands at one of their two registers, bent over a coffee order that he scribbles onto the side of a plastic cup. To his left is Kuroo, playing around with the coffee machines as he follows the orders that Kenma gives him. Across the cafe at the diagonal register is Yachi, a permanent blush sitting on her face as she takes payment from their customers. Kenma knows that she’s still a trainee and shouldn't be left alone, but after Kiyoko’s revelation yesterday he’s (kind of) been avoiding her. 

She has most definitely noticed. 

She whispers to Yamaguchi, another trainee, who stands behind her washing out pots of coffee from last night. “Is it just me or has Kenma been really distant this morning?” 

Yamaguchi shrugs. “He’s been fine with me.” 

Yachi pouts, unsure. “Really? I feel like he’s ignoring me.” 

Kuroo looks up from where he pours a packet of sugar into a plain black coffee and over at the trainees. He smirks at them, just as a reassurance that he can most definitely hear them. In response, both Yamaguchi and Yachi look down at the floor and return to what they were doing. 

Kuroo turns to Kenma. “They were talking about you.” 

Kenma sighs, setting the sharpie that was previously in his hand down on the dark counter. He looks into the store at the customers all attended to well, then looks back at Kuroo. 

“How do you know?” He asks, moving to his register to check on an online order. He prints a receipt and hands it to Kuroo, who holds it in between his fingers like a playing card. 

“I just heard them. Yachi thinks you’re acting weird.” 

“No fucking shit, Kuro,” Kenma replies coldly, quietly, and maybe half anxiously. He’s about to continue with his thoughts when the door chimes and a boy walks through it, an absolutely infectious smile on his face as he ambles inside. 

Kuroo moves to the counter, pushing Kenma aside to wave at Bokuto as he makes his way to them. He sets his hands down on the dark wood and grins wide in Kenma’s direction. He winks, setting Kenma’s heart ablaze. 

“How’s it going?” Bokuto asks loudly, handing a fist bump to Kuroo. Kuroo grins, his teeth ravage his face as he picks up a cup and begins to write Bokuto’s order on the side. Bokuto stops him, “No, no, no—Kenma always makes my drink.” 

Kuroo stops smiling and hands the cup to Kenma. “It’s nice to see you too, traitor.” 

Bokuto laughs from his stomach, watching as Kenma lightly picks up the sharpie and writes his order on the side of the cup. It’s ingrained in his memory at this point, it becomes second nature to make the latte and return it to Bokuto. 

“I haven’t seen you in awhile, Kuroo! How’s school going?” Bokuto asks, making time as he searches through his wallet.

“It’s good! I’m almost done, actually,” Kuroo replies, watching Bokuto pull out a crisp note. 

Bokuto sets down a two-thousand yen note and Kenma looks at him with bug eyes.

“Your coffee is only 500 yen. Do you not have coins today? You always pay precisely.” 

Bokuto shrugs. “Just keep it all. I’m heading to the ATM after this anyways.” 

Kuroo’s mouth hangs agape. “You’re just going to give him that big a tip?” 

“Uh, yeah,” Bokuto says, then nods. He grins. 

“Aren’t you fucking broke like the rest of us? Go buy groceries with that!” Kuroo says, watching as Kenma takes the note and breaks it, then attempts to give the change back. 

Bokuto waves his hand, taking his coffee and starting to walk away. “I’m a pro volleyball player, Kuroo. I can live without a few coins. See you later, Kenma!” 

Kenma waves goodbye, his other hand clutching the tip to his chest. He blinks a few times, awed by the fact that he just made more in one order than he usually does in a week. 

Bokuto stops himself short before the door, running back to grab a notepad and a pen from a table. He grins deviously at the two and moves where they can’t see him to scratch out a note for the suggestion box. 

Kenma’s heart pounds. He snaps his neck to look at Kuroo. “What if it’s him?” He whispers, eyes wide and observant as he watches Bokuto emerge from his hiding place and slip his now crumpled note into the wooden box. 

“I’ll see you later!” He says, waving once more as he walks out the door. Kenma waves back, his hand still in the air awkwardly as the door slides closed. He takes a deep breath. 

Kuroo snickers. “You’re a hopeless romantic.” He elbows Kenma in the ribs, laughing as Kenma continues to stare out the window. The latter watches through the glass panes as Bokuto finds his car and gets in the driver’s seat, then turns the engine on and drives away. Kenma watches still until the car is completely out of his sight. 

Kuroo looks over at the trainees, then waves them over. As of right now, each trainee counts for half a person on their shifts. So instead of having three people for the closing shift as the cafe usually does, they have four people clamoring around. 

Yamaguchi approaches Kuroo first, looking up as in question of what Kuroo is going to have them learn to do now. 

He smiles. “Have either of you closed before?” 

Yachi nods. “A few times.” 

Kuroo points at Yamaguchi. “Have you?” 

He shakes his head. Kuroo snickers. 

“Has anyone told you about the suggestion box?” Kuroo asks, to which Kenma immediately snaps his head up at him. 

“Kuro—” He warns, grabbing his best friend’s arm aggressively. Kuroo howls in pain and snatches his arm away, hiding it in his chest. 

“Ow! You could have killed me!” 

“They know about the fucking suggestion box, you don’t need to torture me!” 

Kuroo groans, then collapses against the counter dramatically. Kenma bonks him on the head with a closed fist and a loud sigh. 

“You’re being ridiculous! A child!” Kenma scorns, then snaps his head up at the trainees. He points to Kuroo. “Bunny, Tadashi, you see this shit? Don’t ever do that.”

Kuroo immediately springs upright, then points back at Kenma. “Aha! I knew you wouldn’t go a whole day without flirting with Yachi!” 

Kenma stomps his foot and scrunches his nose up at Kuroo. “I’m! Not! Flirting!” 

“Oh really?” Kuroo howls, laughing as Yachi watches the two of them fight in horror. Yamaguchi awkwardly backs off and leaves. 

“We talked about this yesterday!” Kenma whines, pouting as he looks up at Kuroo. Kuroo smiles at him and winks cutely. 

Kenma is surprised when his heart skips a little bit. He takes a deep breath as Kuroo looks at him with his cat eyes and his mind flashes to a deep rooted memory where Kuroo trapped him against the counter and almost kissed him a year ago after closing. Their lips were so close Kenma could almost taste Kuroo’s chapstick, and he could smell the peppermint tea on his breath. 

Kenma bites his lip, his eyes locking with Kuroo’s for almost a minute now. Yachi stands a few feet away, awkwardly watching the tension between them. Kenma begins to lean forward to meet Kuroo’s lips, but Kuroo perks out of his gaze. He stands straight up and walks towards the coffee machines, leaving Kenma alone against the counter with his thoughts. 

Yachi takes a deep breath and bends down to collect cups. She looks obviously heartbroken after the fight Kuroo and Kenma had over the nickname. 

Kuroo frowns softly as he watches her as she crouches. 

The door dings. 

Kenma ignores Yachi, afraid of confrontation. He speeds to the register to attend as a stream of three regulars walk in, all laughing with one another. 

Kuroo briefly touches Kenma’s shoulder with a delicate hand, then whispers in his ear, “Flirt with them. She's right here. Show her that she thought wrong, and you won’t have to explain anything.” 

He walks away, leaving Kenma with a burning chest as he’s approached by the few boys. 

“Hey,” Semi says cooly as he and his friends stop before the counter. 

Kenma grins. “Hi. What can I get for you guys?” 

Semi reads off his order and Kenma writes it down, though he already knows it. The boy to his right—Ushijima—duly states his order as well. 

Kenma purses his lips, gathering the courage to be the slut he always knew he could be. “Just a black coffee?” He asks Ushijima, watching him with his pretty amber doll eyes as he awaits a reply. 

“Uh, yeah.” 

Kenma throws on a grin. “You sure I can't give you anything else?” He stifles a laugh. “You know, you look like you haven’t been fucked in weeks. I could fix that.” 

Ushijima’s eyes shoot open, followed by a hot crimson blush. He looks down at the floor as Kenma giggles. The barista feels multiple pairs of his eyes on him as he closes his lips, but the adrenaline is still hot in his heart and heavy as lead, so it hardly affects him. 

“I’m going to take that as a ‘no’,” Kenma says, then sighs. He writes down Ushijima’s order. “It was worth a shot. You’re really sexy.” 

Ushijima says nothing, but Semi busts out laughing. 

Kenma grins at him. “What about you, huh? Are you free anytime soon?” 

Semi shakes his head. “You’re crazy.” 

“I tried,” Kenma says, tipping his palms up. “Didn’t work. Now I’m moving on. You have to understand the hustle, you know.” 

Semi snorts. “I guess so. Mad respect to you for saying it on the fucking job though.” 

“Where else was I going to say it?” Kenma rolls his eyes and looks at the third boy. He decides to change the subject back to coffee. “What can I get for you, Honey?”

It rolls off his tongue so easily, Kenma is startled by his sudden new personality. But it doesn’t feel awkward, he notices it kind of feels nice to act like the desperate gay boy that he is inside of his head. 

The third boy, Tendou, smirks. “A date Wednesday night?” 

Kenma snickers, then bites back his tongue. “I’m working.” 

“That hasn’t stopped you before, has it?” 

Kenma shrugs, attempting to conjure up another excuse in his head. “I’m not into redheads.” 

Tendou rolls his eyes. “How convenient.” 

“But I can throw on a free coffee?” Kenma asks, pulling out his tip from Bokuto and setting it on the counter. 

“I guess that’ll do. I’ll take a large matcha latte.” 

Kenma nods and writes down the three orders, then spins around to hand them to Yachi. She stands behind him, heady terror and confusion displayed on her face. Her bright eyes laser-beam into Kenma’s, but he only grins at her. “Here, you want to make these?” 

She awkwardly takes the receipts and nods, moving silently towards the coffee machines. 

Kenma turns back to the counter. He starts to type into his register and asks, “You three going to stay here or take these to the car with you?” 

“We’re going to sit for awhile,” Semi replies, handing his card to Kenma. “This is for all of ours.” 

Kenma shakes his head. “I said I would pay for your redhead friend’s coffee.” 

“You really don’t have to,” Semi replies. Kenma waves him off and only charges for the two he and Ushijima wanted. 

“It’s the least I can do for letting him down,” Kenma says, then winks at Tendou. “You’ll find someone just as desperate as me, don’t you worry.” 

Kenma hands Semi his credit card and Tendou scoffs. He looks at Ushijima, who still stares at the ground with a blush dusting his cheeks. Kenma smiles. 

“Yachi will have your drinks out here on the counter in a moment. Have a nice day, all three of you,” Kenma says, then leans across the counter to lift Ushijima’s chin up suavely. “And you, you need to go get fucked.” 

Yachi sets the drinks down on the counter abruptly, then runs for the back room. Kenma grins. 

“See you later! Thanks,” Semi says aloud, taking the drinks and handing them to his friends before picking up his own. “You should stay around here. I’ve never met a cool barista before.” 

Kenma winks. “I’m here almost every weekday, seven to close!” 

Semi scoffs and sits down with his friends, Kenma watching them warmly as they depart. As soon as they settle though, he bolts towards Kuroo with his face absolutely smothered in a blush. 

Kuroo points at Kenma, bewildered. “I heard it! I fucking heard you! Jesus Christ, I didn’t think you would be  _ that _ bold! Oh my fucking God, Kenma, that was hot!” 

Kenma giggles, his entire body flushing. “I’ve never done that before!” 

“Fuck! You meant it when you said you weren’t trying to flirt with Yachi!” 

Kenma continues giggling, bumbling around with a flirty aura about him. He almost kisses Kuroo on instinct, but instead settles for bumping into his chest and lying his head on his shoulder for a split second. 

“Do you think one of them might be my secret admirer, Kuro?” Kenma asks aloud, his voice a lullaby as he grins around the store with his half-crescent eyes scanning his customers. 

“Maybe,” Kuroo says. “We’ll see tonight.” 

‘Tonight’ comes much quicker than Kenma expects. He watches Semi, Ushijima, and Tendou each drop a note into the box and wave him goodbye, then the rest is a blur. 

He sees Kunimi and tells him he looks cute today. He sees Daichi and tells him he likes his shoes, he sees Sugawara and tells him that his smile is beautiful. He laughs on the air, commenting on each and every boy that stops into the store. Even Daishou, who comes alone and sneers after Kenma offhandedly mentions, “Your eyes look pretty under the light.” 

The hours pass by and Yamaguchi leaves. Only two hours remain as Kenma watches the clock. He cleans the windows and sweeps and mops and empties out the old coffee pots and teaches Yachi how to effectively mop underneath the fridges. 

After he teaches her, they move to put the mop away. Kenma watches tiredly as Yachi drains the mop head and flips it upside down against the wall.

Kenma begins to walk back towards the front when she stops him, putting a soft hand on his arm. He spins around to face her, confused when he’s met by her worried expression. 

Almost immediately after making eye contact she looks at the ground, entwining her fingers. She takes a deep breath. 

“Kenma, I know this might be personal but are… are you gay?” 

Kenma bites his lip. “Yeah, I am.” 

She nods solemnly. “I thought for awhile there that you had a crush on me.” 

Kenma blushes awkwardly, scratching his neck as he looks off at the prep table lined with bags of new coffee grounds. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t realize that I came off that way until Kiyoko asked me about it yesterday. 

“It’s okay!” Yachi says, though she seems put down. 

“I didn’t mean to lead you on. As you can tell… my flirting is a lot,  _ lot _ less subtle than that. But you couldn’t have known that. I should have been more aware.” 

She shrugs. “It’s alright, Kenma, really.” 

“I feel bad.” 

“Don’t.” 

“Okay.” 

Yachi smiles, then returns to the store where she helps customers as if nothing happened. 

Her, Kenma, and Kuroo soon after close the store and clean up. They wash pots and belt along to the radio, goofing around as they put coffees away and set up for the openers tomorrow morning. 

Soon enough, it’s time for the moment Kenma has been agonizing all day. 

Kuroo dumps the suggestion box out on the table of the booth that they sit at every night. The notes scatter everywhere, as do a few metal coins. 

The three begin to rake through the paper, scrapping and saving as they see fit. They remain mostly quiet, but a few notes are too good to pass up. 

“Hi, this is for Kenma. It’s Semi. Here are those four hundred yen for Tendou’s drink. Don’t give them back to me, I won’t take them. He can handle being rejected,” Kuroo reads aloud, then looks to see Kenma as he picks up the coins sitting on the table with a pout. 

“I told him not to pay me,” Kenma mumbles, shoving the money into his pocket. 

Yachi laughs. “You aren't supposed to pay for customers, Kenma.” 

He picks up another slip of paper and sighs. “I know, Yachi.” He reads it and tears it, throwing it into the garbage bag sitting beside them on the floor. 

Kuroo picks up another one as well, then opens it. He scans it and reads it aloud. “Fucking Kuroo I hate that bitch so much does he know that his little boyfriend complimented me today? Suck my dick.” 

Kenma slams the table in retort, his laughter much more than just a simple giggle. He looks straight at Kuroo and howls, their eyes glued together as Kenma loses his shit. Kuroo blinks a few times, then sighs. 

“Fuck Daishou. I bet you would suck his dick, wouldn't you, Kenma?” Kuroo asks aloud, grimacing when Kenma stops laughing. 

“I would not. He probably has an absolutely microscopic penis. I would never even dream of getting with him.” 

Kuroo snorts. “Glad we agree on one thing.” 

Yachi blinks a few times. “Am I missing something?” 

“Daishou and Kuroo are exes,” Kenma tells Yachi, yawning as he picks up another slip of paper. Yachi scrunches her face up. 

“Kuroo is gay as well?” 

“I don’t really like to label myself,” Kuroo responds, yawning after Kenma does. “Why’d you have to fucking make me yawn.” 

“Fuck off. Stop looking at me.” 

“You stop talking to me!” Kuroo yells, throwing a slip of paper at Kenma in defense. He doesn’t even read it, he just picks it up off the table and winds his arm back to spike it right at Kenma. 

It lands in Kenma’s lap. “No you! Leave me alone, fucking whore,” Kenma grumbles, picking up the note from where it sits on his jeans. 

He pulls it open and scans it with his eyes quickly, then once again. Then again, and again, until Kuroo plucks it out of his hand. 

“Stop! Give it back!” Kenma whines, holding his hand out. Kuroo doesn’t listen and reads the note, a smile spreading over his lips. 

He then decides to read the slip aloud. Animatedly, he smiles as he speaks. “The cute blonde barista boy complimented me today and I almost died. I wanted to tell him that his eyes were gorgeous and his smile made me feel things but I was a complete coward about it, insert frowny face. I’m just a sad boy that wants a boyfriend.” 

Kenma blushes, looking down at the counter. He whispers quietly, “A boy…” but it’s heavily overburdened by Yachi’s surprised response. 

“Oh my Goodness! A secret admirer? That’s adorable,” Yachi says, holding her hands over her heart as Kuroo softly hands the note back to Kenma. She smiles and watches Kenma as he brings his knees to his chest, coyly smiling to himself. 

“It's written in purple pen. Same person as yesterday.” 

Kenma nods, taking the note and reading over it once more with a giddy grin on his face. 

“Yesterday?” Yachi asks, to which Kuroo nods. 

“Kenma got a note from the same boy yesterday. I think he’s in love now,” Kuroo tells her, watching lovingly as Kenma grips the note between his fingertips and reads over it again and again. 

Yachi and Kuroo continue with the rest of the notes, but Kenma doesn’t. He holds the one he received close to heart, knowing that when he goes home he’s going to go set it on his desk by the other one. 

He looks at it one more time. 

**_Date_ ** :  _ feb 11 (lol i was wrong yesterday oops) _

**_Please leave your suggestion for ‘The Moon Cafe’ here_ ** _ :  _

_ the cute blonde barista boy complimented me today and i almost died. i wanted to tell him that his eyes were gorgeous and his smile made me feel things but i was a complete coward about it. :( i’m just a sad boy that wants a boyfriend.  _

Kenma takes in a deep breath. 

“Kuro, what if he stops by tomorrow when we’re not here?” 

Kuroo shrugs. “Kiyoko will be here. If he leaves anything for you, she’ll make sure it gets to you.” 

Kenma nods, then pockets the note with his coins. He waits as Kuroo and Yachi finish the notes, then ties up the garbage bag. He hands it to Kuroo. 

“I hope so. Come on, let’s go home.” 

Kuroo throws the trash out the back door and Kenma hits the lights. The three leave together. Kenma drives himself home tonight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m back!! hopefully i’ll get another chapter out this week, i’m working on it rn. 
> 
> bookmark/subscribe so u can get my updates, leave kudos if u haven’t, and mayhaps a comment aha. i like to hear ur thoughts and theories. who do u think is writing kenma notes?? slowly but surely, clues will pop up. there’s already a few i’ve dropped thus far hehe 
> 
> \- kel


	3. Chapter 3

Kenma comes back to work with a knot tied in his chest. Yesterday he wasn’t scheduled, and the entire time he was at home he thought about what might happen at the café while he wasn’t there. 

But he works today, and he feels almost relieved as he opens the door to the coffee shop and walks inside. He’s immediately hit by the scent of coffee grounds and perfume, and it relaxes him. He’s back in a familiar place, following a familiar routine. 

He walks to the front counter and waves to his coworkers already present. It’s a few minutes before nine, when his shift starts. He goes ahead and clocks in though, only taking a moment to find his apron and put his things down. 

He turns to Kiyoko with a smile. “Are the nametags in yet?” 

She shakes her head. “Boss said at the end of the week they should be here. You want to wear mine?” 

“I’m alright.” Kenma grins and ties the strings of his red smock before turning to the register that he stands at. “Do I need to go on drawer?” 

Kiyoko nods. “There’s a drawer on the back counter that Yachi finished counting before she left. Can you recount it before you go on?” 

“Yeah of course. Is she having problems being on register?” 

“I don’t know. I’ve never counted her drawer. But it’s only her second time on, so I just want to make sure,” Kiyoko replies, shrugging. She picks up a cup of iced tea and presses it to her lips, taking a long sip. 

“Alright, I’ll go,” Kenma says, beginning to walk towards the back room. He’s stopped short by a tug on the hem of his shirt. 

“Kenma, wait a second!” Kiyoko says, pulling him towards her. She grins. “I forgot, I have something for you from yesterday!” 

Kenma cocks his eyebrow. “Oh yeah?” 

Kiyoko nods and pulls a white slip out from her back pocket, iced coffee in her other hand. As soon as Kenma sets eyes on it, he feels his heart start to beat faster and faster than he’s ever felt it before. He bites his lip. 

“It’s from your secret lover,” Kiyoko sings, suavely handing the note over to Kenma. She giggles as he takes it quickly and scrambles to open it as fast as he can. 

Kenma reads it. 

**_Date_ ** _ : feb 12  _

**_Please leave your suggestion for ‘The Moon Cafe’ in the space below_ ** _ :  _

_ cute boy wasn’t here today :( i wish i knew his name, hes the only one that doesnt wear a nametag. you would think id know after coming here every few days for two years i would pick it up, but im too in love with his face to notice.  _

Kenma looks up at Kiyoko with stars in his eyes. “He’s adorable. I love him.” 

Kiyoko laughs. “Kuroo texted me that he revealed his gender.” 

“I want him to reveal himself…,” Kenma whispers, taking the note and folding it nicely. He slips it into the back pocket of his black jeans. “I want to tell him how much he means to me.” 

“What if he's ugly?” 

Kenma frowns, the static air around the store accentuating his mood. He looks straight at Kiyoko and says, “He can’t be ugly if he’s writing such pretty notes.” 

She scoffs. “His handwriting sucks.” 

“But it’s with a purple pen, it’s special for me…,” Kenma murmurs, smiling at the floor as he thinks about it. “I’m soft.” 

“You’re soft?” Kiyoko asks, peering at her nails. “Kuroo told me you were pretty hard the other day, flirting with customers.” 

Kenma blushes. “I have to go count my drawer,” He says, then leaves for the back room where a money drawer sits on the prep table waiting for him. He counts it and recounts it, then takes it to the unattended register and puts it in. 

He looks around the store to see that most of the customers are settled, aside from one that stands awkwardly waiting. Kenma waves at him. 

“Can I help you find anything?” Kenma calls out to him, smiling brightly to add a sense of comfort to the store. The boy walks towards him, physically eased, and grins shortly. 

“I, uh, haven’t gotten my drink yet.” 

Kenma looks at him quizzically, pursing his lips and knitting his eyebrows together. “What did you order?” 

“A vanilla caramel cappuccino,” The boy replies, albeit awkwardly. It’s obvious to Kenma that he doesn’t want to be a bother, so Kenma tries his best to console him. 

“I’ll go check on it’s progress, what name is it under?” 

“Suna,” the boy says aloud, then looks down at the floor when Kenma smiles at him. 

“Alright, Suna, just give me one second,” Kenma says, then taps the counter. “If they haven’t started on it yet then the coffee’s on me.” 

Suna grins softly as Kenma walks away, shifting from his register to greet his Kiyoko at the other register. He taps her on the shoulder. 

“Do you have a receipt for a vanilla caramel cappuccino?” 

Kiyoko looks at the ceiling as she thinks, then purses her lips as she looks back at Kenma. “I’ve only done espressos and lattes so far this morning. Ask Konoha or Alisa.” 

Kenma groans, “Both of them are fucking useless.” 

“They’re still new, Kenma.” She shrugs, then looks at her nails. “And I think Alisa is doing really well.” 

“What does that say about Konoha?” He huffs, then walks towards the coffee machines where Konoha and Alisa both stand while they work. He steps between the two of them. 

“Hi, Kenma!” Alisa chirps, plucking a receipt from her apron and reading over it before starting on it. Kenma presses his lips in a line. 

“Do either of you have a receipt for a vanilla caramel cappuccino? There’s a customer who has been waiting a while for one.” 

Alisa scrambles through her receipts and shakes her head. “I have a tea, a frappe, and two lattes.” 

Kenma looks at Konoha, his eyes are laser beams into the side of the tall boy’s head. The latter scoffs. 

“I’ve got it right here. I’m working on it.” 

“It doesn't take fifteen minutes to make a cappuccino, Akinori,” Kenma says, then sneers. Konoha refuses to lock eyes, and instead settles for a smirk. 

“I’m tired,” Konoha excuses. Kenma scoffs, then laughs. 

“Oh, you’re tired? How fucking bad. Give me the receipt, it’s my order now.” 

Konoha’s mouth drops as Kenma snags the receipt from his hand and uses his hip to bump Konoha to the side. 

Kenma quickly pulls a cup and pours coffee, adding vanilla and caramel and everything else right in front of Konoha, who watches silently. 

In about a minute, Kenma finishes and puts a lid on the cup. He glares at Konoha. “Get back to work. If I have to deal with another waiting customer of yours then I’m leaving a note for the boss.” 

Konoha grits his teeth. “Fuck you.” 

“No—fuck yourself. This was your decision. Just quit if you aren’t going to do your job properly, okay?” 

Alisa silently pours scoured milk into a cup of coffee, listening to the conversation as she completes her orders. Konoha huffs and doesn’t reply. She spins a stirrer in the cup as Kenma begins to walk away, but then he stops. 

“Alisa, you’re doing a great job. Keep it up,” He says, sympathetically before returning to Suna and handing him his drink. Alisa smiles to herself, but quickly drops the emotion from her face once she sees Konoha fuming beside her. 

At Kenma’s register, Suna smiles as Kenma places his drink on the counter. “Here you go, sorry about your wait! You can always catch me wherever I am to make your coffee the next time around, I would rather take time out to make it right then have for you to wait like this again,” Kenma says, smiling. 

Suna lightly picks up his drink and takes a sip from it. He nods at Kenma. “Thank you so much, you’re very kind.” 

“If it ever happens again, just let me know, okay?” 

Suna nods, then takes another sip. 

Kenma grins at him. “Does it taste alright?” 

“It’s really good,” Suna whispers, taking another drink. He giggles as Kenma watches him, then clasps the cup with both of his hands. He taps his painted nails on the side of the plastic, eyes set on Kenma’s. 

“I’m glad,” Kenma whispers in reply, watching the boy for a few seconds more before snapping out of his gaze. “Have you paid yet?” 

Suna nods.

Kenma hits his fist on the counter with a sigh. “Damn. It’s on me next time though, alright?” 

Suna nods again, then giggles. “Alright. Thank you.” 

“Of course. Have a great day.” 

Kenma watches with a smile as Suna goes to sit down at a table alone, pulling out his phone almost directly after he sits down. He drinks his coffee quickly as he grins at his phone, typing just as quickly and taking small gazes at Kenma when he thinks the barista isn’t looking. Kenma notices. 

He walks up to Kiyoko, tugging on her apron strings until they come undone. 

“Kenma! What the hell!” She whines, taking the strings and tying them back up with a frown sitting heavy on her lips. She leans against the back counter with a sigh and closes her eyes for a few seconds. Kenma moves to stand right beside her. 

“See that boy over there?” He whispers, subtly pointing out Suna who looks at his phone still. Kiyoko nods, her attention immediately caught on his red acrylic nails. 

“He looks gay,” Kiyoko notes, to which Kenma hits her in the ribs. She groans. 

“Just because he has fake nails doesn’t mean he’s gay, Kiyoko!” 

She groans again, then crosses her arms. “Sorry. What about him are you trying to tell me then?” 

“I think he might be the one giving me the notes.” 

“Oh really? This is the first time I’ve seen him in the store.” 

“I’ve seen him a few times before…,” Kenma awkwardly says, then itches his neck. He sighs. “Okay, maybe it isn’t him. But he’s really cute.” 

Kiyoko shrugs. “Shoot your shot then.” 

“But what about my secret admirer?” 

The two of them stay silent, looking forward at the cafe full of its usual occupants. Kiyoko runs an exam over who the standard suspects are, then watches as a boy in a hoodie slips a note into the suggestion box. 

She grins. “What if we check the suggestion box after every person we see drop a note?” 

Kenma shakes his head. “Boss checks the cameras, Kiyoko. She would throw an entire fit and a half.” 

“So the cameras… we have to figure out how to get the box out of sight of the cameras.” 

“No! It’s too risky,” Kenma says, looking at the box as well. He takes a deep breath, then sighs. He looks at Kiyoko. “We just need to start deducting from any hints the notes give us.” 

Kiyoko nods. “I guess so,” She says, dragging her fingernails on the counter behind her. She watches as Alisa handles a few customers with a bright smile on her face. “What do we know so far?” 

Kenma thinks for a moment. 

“It’s a boy. He doesn’t know my name, but he’s been coming here for a few years. He carries a purple pen around with him. He doesn’t remember the date. He comes every day.” 

Kiyoko nods. “Okay, who do we know it isn’t?” 

Kenma looks at the floor. “I don’t know. I haven’t been paying attention.” 

His coworker sighs loudly, shaking her head. “You suck. Start paying attention. See who doesn't come in today and connect it to whether or not you get a note later.” 

Kenma nods. “Good idea. So, who came in so far? Suna…” 

Kiyoko pulls her hand from the counter to count on it, but then curls it into a fist and puts it away. “Just Suna. It’s too early for the other university boys to come in.”

Kenma nods again, and follows through with his plan. 

Throughout the next few hours he keeps a tally in his head of his interactions. It’s difficult though when most of his suspects come in every day. 

He greets Kunimi at his register with an exasperated smile. 

“Hey, how's it going?” Kenma asks, writing out Kunimi’s order on a cup, which is memorized in his head. “How’s studying?” 

Kunimi shrugs with a grimace. “I have my exam later today. I’m nervous.” 

Kenma writes off a receipt and walks a few feet to hand it to Alisa alongside the cup. He then pulls up the payment screen on his register. “I’m sure you’ll do great. I have complete faith in you.” 

The university boy smiles, pulling a few coins out of his pocket. He hands them to Kenma, already having memorized the price of his order. Kenma drops the money into his drawer and gives the receipt to Kunimi. 

“Here—we’ll have your drink out in a few minutes. And don’t worry too much about your exam, alright? I know you’ll do well.” 

Kunimi nods. “Thank you.” 

Kenma grins at him. “It’s no problem. You know I’m always here for you.” 

Kunimi nods once more, a soft smile overcoming his lips. He stands by the register while Kenma fiddles with his apron, waiting for his drink. Within a few moments, Alisa gives it to him with a bright grin. 

He walks back to a booth where he seats himself alone, pulling a slip from the notepad that sits on the table. Kenma watches him take a pen from the table and write on the sheet. 

He turns around and walks over to Kiyoko. 

She kneels on the ground, bent halfway in the cabinet before her. She scrubs furiously at a coffee stain, her head hidden by the cabinet door. 

“So I’ve seen Suna, Semi and his friends, and Kunimi,” Kenma says aloud, counting on his fingers. He’s about to continue when the door to the shop dings, welcoming a new customer. Or, rather two. 

“That’s great, Kenma,” Kiyoko pants, too preoccupied by her intense scrubbing to care. 

Kenma gazes at the door before looking back to Kiyoko. “Daichi and Sugawara just walked in. I’m going to go help them.” 

She ignores him completely, continuing to fiercely wipe away at the spill. Kenma can’t even fathom how coffee got into the cabinet in the first place, but he knows Kiyoko will have some fucked story about it to tell him later. He sighs and walks away. 

“Good luck, Kiyoko,” He murmurs as he goes to his register to greet two of his regular customers. 

Sugawara wears a smile, Daichi wears a set of sleep-deprived eyes. Kenma notices. 

“Didn’t sleep, huh?” He asks, pulling out two cups. He writes their standard orders on the plastic. “Want me to add a shot of espresso?” 

Daichi yawns, then nods. “That’d be great. Suga, you want espresso too?” 

Sugawara shakes his head. “I’m fine. I actually didn’t stay up until 4 in the morning sexting my boyfriend instead of going to his dorm literally five doors away.” 

“I wasn't sexting!” Daichi groans, elbowing Sugawara in the gut. The latter rolls his eyes. 

“Then what the hell were you doing?” 

“We were planning our next date!” 

Sugawara sighs. “Oh, just remind me of how single I am once again!” 

Kenma watches the encounter, amused. The two go on bickering for a few more minutes as Kenma sets up their order and gives it to Alisa who passes him by. He waits patiently as they fight. Finally, Sugawara flings out his hand and puts a stop to it. He looks up at Kenma. 

“I’m sorry. We’ll just have what we usually do, plus an espresso onto his cappuccino.” 

Kenma nods. “Already gave the order over to Alisa. It’ll be a thousand yen.” 

Daichi searches through his pockets and Sugawara through his backpack for change. He pulls out a stack of his homework before finding coins, then slips the paper back in. He grins, handing Kenma his portion of the bill. 

Kenma is used to their payment by now. They each pay for their own coffee since Daichi’s is more expensive, but on the same bill. Kenma brushes hands with Sugawara lightly as he takes the coins and drops them into his drawer. 

He swears that he sees Sugawara blush as he pulls his hand away—but he keeps it to himself. Kenma knows he’s been way too hyper-aware today. He’s starting to think he might be seeing things that aren’t actually there. 

Daichi gives him his portion of the payment and after a brief, “Thank you.” The two of them retreat to a table after picking up their drinks from Alisa, Kenma quietly watching all the way. 

The two talk as best friends, and he watches with a smile as Sugawara giggles at something Daichi must have said. Kenma sighs. 

Daichi has a boyfriend. That’s one he can most likely check off the list, knowing Daichi seems like a pretty fidel, monoamorous person. 

Kenma notes the discovery in his head. He thinks about all of the boys he’s seen today and who he might see later… There’s Suna, Semi, Tendou, Ushijima, Kunimi, Daichi, and Sugawara. Scratch Daichi… That leaves six of them so far, and a lot of his regulars (such as Daishou, Bokuto, the twins, then Oikawa and Iwaizumi) have yet to come in. 

He ponders on which of them it might be (and who he thinks is the best looking) and ignores as the door opens. He thinks to himself,  _ Alisa can get that one _ . 

Though he isn’t left to his thoughts for long. A loud, drawn out yell sends his mind for a loop in a very different direction. Kenma looks up to see Bokuto and Kuroo standing at Alisa’s register, though the both of them are looking at Kenma instead of Alisa who is supposed to be serving them. 

Kenma sighs.

“Keeeeenmaaaaaaaaa!” Bokuto chortles a second time, moving from Alisa’s register to greet Kenma at his. Kuroo follows slyly behind, a shit-eating grin on his face. 

“Bet you didn’t think you would see me today,” Kuroo snickers, watching as Bokuto leans across the counter to try and give Kenma a hug. Kenma steps back and frowns at him. 

Bokuto frowns as well, his eyes saddening as Kenma curls his arms in on himself and looks at the two of his friends wearily. “What are you doing here, Kuroo? You have to work a shift tomorrow, why are you here today?”

Kuroo shakes his head. “I’m not here to work! I’m here to get a drink before Kou and I go on a hike.”

Kenma squints. “A… hike? You? On a hike?”

Kuroo gasps. “You think I can’t go on a hike?”

“I thought you were lazy now that you aren’t playing volleyball and you have a business major and shit,” Kenma says, looking at Kuroo with a knowing look.

“Fine. We aren’t going on a hike. We’re going shopping. But I wasn’t going to tell you since I knew you would be jealous that we didn’t bring you along.”

Kenma rolls his eyes. “I’m not jealous. You know you’re allowed to do things without me, right, Kuro?” 

Kuroo shrugs. “I know. But it’s more fun with you.”

Bokuto joins in, shaking his head. “Yeah! I had hoped you would be off today. Now I have to spend my money on Tetsurou instead of you,” He says, sighing when he talks about Kuroo. Kuroo punches him in the arm.

“Really? Way to show your preference.” 

“Please,” Bokuto scoffs. “I had to convince you for an hour to come with me without Kenma. Like that isn’t showing preference.”

Kuroo grits his teeth and looks at Bokuto. “I just thought he might want to come!”

Bokuto is about to respond as Kiyoko walks towards them and leans on the counter. She smiles at the two boys, then looks at Kenma with a snarl. “You two are so fucking whipped for Kenma. I wouldn’t be surprised if either of you were writing him those notes.” 

Kenma’s heart pounds, Kuroo blushes. However, Bokuto looks completely and utterly confused. He looks at Kiyoko and cocks his head. “What notes?”

Kuroo itches his neck with a grimace, then looks at Bokuto. He shuffles a few inches back on the wooden floor. “Someone has been leaving these hopeless romantic love notes for Kenma in the suggestion box every day this week.” 

Bokuto grins. “Really? That’s cute!”

Kenma shakes his head. “Not when I don’t know who it is…”

Bokuto’s face drops. “Oh.” 

Kiyoko nods. “Kenma and I have been like, super spies today. We’re trying to use our ninja skills to figure out which of our suspects doesn’t come into the store today to connect to whether or not Kenma gets a note tonight.”

“That’s a good idea,” Kuroo says, grinning. He grabs a medium plastic cup off the counter alongside a sharpie and begins to write his order on the side of it. “Who all has come in today?”

Kiyoko scoffs. “It would be better to name who hasn’t come in today.” 

Kuroo bites his lip as he writes on the cup, Kenma watches him with heated cheeks the entire time he does so. He looks hot, but Kenma would never say it aloud. Instead, he opts for a less romantic compliment. 

“Kuro, I like your earrings,” Kenma says, taking Kuroo’s cup from his hands and pulling another one to write Bokuto’s order on. He writes it down very quickly then types out their receipts, handing them off to Kiyoko. She leaves the three boys alone and takes the receipts and cups with her. 

“Oh, thanks! Akaashi got me these ones for our Christmas draw last year,” Kuroo replies, smiling as he touches the small diamond studs in his ears. “Speaking of, have either of you seen Akaashi recently?” 

Kenma shakes his head, finding interest in picking at tape stuck to the counter. Bokuto looks up. 

“We’ve been in touch, but he’s pretty involved with his internship with this manga editor right now. He hasn’t really had the time for me lately.”

Kenma frowns. “I’m sorry, Koutarou.” 

Kuroo nods in agreement. “You should talk to him if you feel neglected.”

Bokuto shrugs again, watching as Kiyoko approaches the counter with Kuroo and his drink. He nods at her in thanks, then picks it up. He sighs. “It’s probably just me being a pissbaby about him not putting all of his attention towards me.” 

“Well, you two were really close…,” Kenma murmurs, pushing the second drink towards Kuroo. Kuroo starts to dig in his pocket, then pulls out his wallet. He opens it and rummages for change. 

“Yeah, Kou. You two were basically inseparable. I used to think you guys were dating and just not telling us,” Kuroo says, not looking up from his wallet. He pulls out a note and hands it to Kenma, who makes change. Kenma hands a few coins back to Kuroo. 

Bokuto grits his teeth awkwardly, then scratches his neck. “Actually, we kind of were dating for awhile.”

Kenma and Kuroo both perk their heads up and in Bokuto’s direction, setting him directly in the spotlight beneath the beams of their eyes. 

Bokuto blushes. “Yeah,” he whispers, not making eye contact. His two friends continue to watch him though, waiting for him to elaborate more. When he doesn’t, Kuroo fills the silence. 

“Really? How long?”

Bokuto replies, “We fucked around in high school for awhile, but when we shared an apartment back when he first started school we were really close. Like, I’d take him to fancy restaurants and we’d go on dates and everything. But ever since he moved out for his internship, things have kind of been distant between us. I’m still in love with him, though. I wish he would come back to Tokyo, I miss him a lot.”

Kenma listens quietly. He feels selfish when the first thing he thinks of is how Bokuto isn’t a suspect of giving him notes any longer. He doesn’t dare say it out loud. 

“Kou, why didn’t you tell us?” Kuroo asks, putting his hand on Bokuto’s shoulder. The latter shakes his head with a soft sigh. 

“I don’t know. I was just… I was caught up with Keiji, I didn’t even think to tell you guys.”

Kenma nods. “I know what you mean. I’m glad you told us, though. Hopefully he’ll come back soon and you’ll be able to really talk to him about how you’re feeling.”

Bokuto nods in reply, looking up to greet Kenma’s eyes. “I hope so too. Thanks, Kenma.”

The barista nods again, not knowing what else to do to fill the awkward silence that surrounds them. Eventually, Kuroo puts his arm over Bokuto’s shoulder and leads the two of them to a booth out of Kenma’s sight.

Kenma sighs, his stomach churning as he thinks about Bokuto and Akaashi and how him and Kuroo were so close to being just like that. He pushes the thought away as a few more customers walk up to him. 

He takes an order for both Miya Atsumu and Osamu, then hands it over to Kiyoko. He forces himself to joke around with the boys while they wait, then allows himself to fall back into his state of thought when Alisa brings them their drinks.

Almost immediately after that, Alisa clocks out and waves her coworkers goodbye, leaving only two hours until close for Kenma to watch for the regulars he suspects are leaving him notes. 

He watches Sugawara and Daichi both drop a slip of paper into the suggestion box as they leave, smiling at Kenma as they do so. Sugawara waves to him as he walks out the door, Kenma waves back. It’s standard for him to act kindly towards his customers, he knows that his relationships with his customers are a lot different than that of his coworkers. He cares a lot more, and he knows he treats them a lot better, too. But he knows in the end, that’s the reason why he’s getting these notes. It’s become the only thing in his head, absorbing the rest of his sane thoughts and replacing them with thoughts of boys and romance. 

He wishes he had someone like Bokuto to take him on fancy dinner dates or to spoil him when he goes shopping. He wishes he had someone like Kuroo to care about him deeply, to drive him wherever he wants to go whenever he asks. Or someone like Kiyoko, who tries to fix any problems she sees him struggle with. He wishes that he had all of that, wrapped up into one loving, caring boyfriend. 

Yet he has all of it, wrapped up into his best friends who he knows he doesn’t have a chance with. He curses God for that one, gloomily thinking about his misfortune as Iwaizumi and Oikawa walk into the café. 

Kenma serves them quickly, not in the mood to talk. He’s too busy thinking about this ideal caricature of a boyfriend, he doesn’t even realize that he already has one waiting to be found out. 

Kenma delivers the two boys’ drinks with a grin and begins to walk away when he’s stopped. 

Oikawa asks, “Are you alright?”

Kenma turns his head slightly to see him, then throws on a quick grin. “I’m good! Sorry, just thinking.”

Oikawa nods. “Just wanted to make sure. You aren’t as talkative as you usually are.” 

“Yeah, sorry,” Kenma says, then shrugs. “Just a lot of stuff going on.”

“Okay, well, I won’t pry. I just wanted to make sure you were alright,” Oikawa replies, smiling brightly at Kenma. He puts a few coins in the tip jar that sits on top of his register box. “Hope you have a better evening.”

Iwaizumi smiles sympathetically as Oikawa speaks. Kenma nods. “Thank you. You as well.” 

Oikawa softly smiles at the barista, then retreats for a booth with Iwaizumi. Kenma sets himself thinking once again; Oikawa has never acted that nicely towards him. What does that mean for him? 

Kenma thinks he’s going crazy. The rest of the shift is a blur, he stops paying attention to who comes in and who goes out, who drops notes and who doesn’t. He’s busy just getting by until these two hours are over and he can go home and think some more, and maybe call Kuroo to talk about it. 

He’s brought back to reality as he locks the door, Konoha turning off the lights as he does so. It’s closing time. In ten minutes, he’s going to sit right before that suggestion box as it’s poured onto the table and have to deal with the fact that he’s probably going to receive a fourth note. 

He sweeps absentmindedly while Konoha mops behind him and Kiyoko deals with dishes. As he assumed, ten minutes pass and the three of them meet each other at their designated suggestion box booth. Kenma is the last to sit down, the wooden box posed between his two shaking hands. He opens the wooden lid and looks inside to see that it's almost filled to the brim with paper slips. He takes a deep breath as he dumps its contents on the table. 

Kiyoko and Konoha begin to read notes as Kenma goes to put the box back, picking up tonight’s trash bag and placing it next to the booth. He sits down and subdues himself to helping look at the notes, hoping that maybe he’ll get another one from his secret admirer tonight. 

Kiyoko picks up a note and smiles at it, which causes Kenma’s heart to start pounding. She ignores him though, and decides to read it aloud. “This note says, ‘Kenma, do you want to come over to my dorm and watch a movie with me please? From Kuroo’.”

Kenma sighs, disappointed, as Konoha snorts. 

“Do you want to keep it? It  _ is _ written in black pen, so it’s not from your secret admirer.”

Konoha looks at Kiyoko, half-interested, which is more than his usual ‘not interested’ expression. “Secret admirer?”

Kiyoko sighs. “Yes, secret admirer. Kenma has a secret admirer who writes him notes in purple pen. Do you want this, Kenma?”

“Pitch it,” The boy says, then picks up another note. He reads it and rips it, throwing it in the garbage. “If I see one more note about how good our cappuccinos are I’m literally going to put a sign on the box that says, ‘Stop telling us our cappuccinos are good. We know already’. Goddamn.”

“You’re in a mood tonight, huh?” Kiyoko snickers, picking up another note. She hands it to Konoha. “This one's for you. It says that you’re slow as fuck.”

Konoha reads the note, and Kenma peers over his shoulder. Kenma spits laughing when he realizes that Kiyoko wasn’t exaggerating, that it literally reads, ‘that barista Konoha is slow as fuck’. 

Kenma pats Konoha on the shoulder. “I told you.” 

He sneers, then picks up a note. He looks at it, then once again. Kenma peers over his shoulder once more, but frowns when Konoha turns it away from his sight to finish reading. Luckily for Kenma, white computer paper is almost completely transparent, and he can see the purple pen through the back of the slip. 

His heart pounds, but his main goal is to get his love note out of Konoha’s grabby bastard hands. 

“He has my note,” Kenma murmurs, looking at Kiyoko. “I can see the purple pen. Give it to me, Akinori.”

Konoha sneers at Kenma. “You were a bitch to me today. I don’t know if I should give it to you or rip it.”

Kiyoko stares at him. “Give Kenma the note.”

“Why should I?” Konoha says, examining the note one last time. He scoffs, then laughs. “This is so fucking dumb.”

“It isn’t to me,” Kenma begins to say, but stops himself short as Konoha goes ahead and rips the paper in two pieces, then four. 

He throws it in the garbage and picks up another note, Kenma and Kiyoko both staring at him in shock.

“Why the fuck would you do that?” Kiyoko asks, standing up. She leans across the booth to look directly into Konoha’s eyes before spitting in his face and going to grab the garbage bag. As Konoha wipes the saliva from his cheeks and nose in disgust, Kiyoko searches through the trash for the four ripped parts of the note. She starts to assemble them on her side of the booth quickly. 

A reaction is slow to come to Kenma. But once it does, he’s sitting at the booth crying silently to himself while Konoha sneers and quickly discards as many notes as he can. 

Kiyoko looks up once she has the few pieces arranged before her, eyes meeting with Kenma’s. She cocks her head when she sees the tears that run down his face, ones that Konoha fails to notice. She takes a deep breath. 

“Ken, how about you go get me some tape?” 

He nods, opting for climbing over the table rather than asking Konoha to get up when he knows that he’ll get made fun of for crying about the stupid fucking note being ripped. 

He walks to the counter and leans over it to grab the roll of tape. He’s half bent over the counter when he hears a loud smack, followed by an, “Ow!” 

“Don’t think you’re going to get away with fucking with Kenma, alright? I’ll dent your face in if I see or hear you do anything else to him, you got it? Not only do you have no right to talk back to your shift leaders, but you’re a lousy worker and if you dare get on our bad side then you’ll be out of here in less than a week. You know damn well that you need this job to pay your college loans. So get your shit together and act like you want to be here,” Kiyoko snaps, her face right up in Konoha’s as she spits at him. Kenma turns around with the tape in his hand, watching the encounter. Konoha holds one of his cheeks in his hand. Kenma’s eyes go wide once he realizes what happened.

Konoha yells back, “Jesus fucking Christ, it was just a fucking note!”

“This isn’t just about the note and you know it damn well.” 

Kiyoko sits back down and scoots into the wall, leaving a spot for Kenma to come sit beside her. He hands her the tape awkwardly and wipes his eyes before he sits down so that Konoha won’t see his tears. 

He’s tired. He wants to go over to Kuro’s right now. And he just wants to feel less like shit than he does now. 

Kiyoko tapes the four ripped papers back together on the front and the back. She runs her thumb over the tape to make sure it stays down before smiling and handing the note to Kenma. “I already read it when I was fixing it. He seems really cute.”

**_Date_ ** _ : feb 13  _

**_Please leave your suggestion for ‘The Moon Cafe’ in the space below_ ** _ :  _

_ hi, it’s me again. i cant stop thinking about you, i wish i knew your name. my friend says im so dumb for being this in love with you when i barely even know you, but i think hes just jealous that hes never had a crush like this before. he says i should just man up and tell you that i like you, but im scared of what you’ll say… anyways, i hope youre having a good day. seeing you smile at me made my day infinitely better! <3 _

Kenma smiles as he reads the note, Kiyoko grinning alongside him. Konoha scowls from across the booth, but says nothing in fear of what Kiyoko will do to him if he does speak.

“He’s so cute,” Kenma tells Kiyoko, looking up from the crumpled note to look at her. She notices how bright his eyes become after reading it. “I want him to tell me who he is. I want to take him on a date.” 

Kiyoko shrugs. “Well, tomorrow  _ is  _ Valentine’s day… Maybe he’ll make a move.”

Kenma grips the note close to his heart as he thinks about it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i hope ur enjoying ‘the suggestion box’! feel free to leave ur theories or thoughts in the comments, i love to hear what you guys think!! 
> 
> hopefully i’ll have another chapter up by wednesday! check out my twitter @knjkenma for updates and sneak peeks hehe. 
> 
> thank you for reading <3 
> 
> \- kel


	4. Chapter 4

On the morning of Valentine’s Day, Kenma walks into The Moon Cafe to smell roses. 

He walks into the decorated store to see couples crowding almost all of the booths and tables. He waves to Kiyoko at the register, but is taken aback to see a large bouquet of red roses sitting before her. She grins as Kenma approaches her. 

“Ryuu had these delivered for me,” She hums, smiling when Kenma stops to look at the card. He reads it and smiles as well, seeing that Kiyoko’s fiancé has taken to being a sap. 

“That’s really sweet of him,” Kenma murmurs, placing the card back down on the counter. He looks at Kiyoko. “Why are you working? Don’t you want to spend time with him?” 

Kiyoko shrugs, her head moving as Kenma walks away from the register and through the break behind the counter. He quickly throws his things on the metal rack and grabs an apron, closing the door behind him as he walks back towards his coworker. 

She sighs. “Nobody could take my shift.” 

Kenma frowns. “Really? I’m sorry.” 

“Yeah, it is what it is.” She shrugs and picks up the bouquet of flowers, holding them tightly to her chest. “Kuro is coming in, right?” 

“He should already be here.” 

Kiyoko shrugs again, then walks her bouquet to the back room where she can safely set them down. Once she comes back, she wraps Kenma in a hug. 

“What are you doing tonight? Do you have anyone?” 

Kenma laughs, but it dissipates quickly as he realizes the grim reality of his romantic situation. He shakes his head. “Maybe if my secret admirer musters up some courage I’ll get to wine and dine later.” 

“You just going to stay home and watch tv if he doesn’t?” 

“I’ll probably hang out with Kuro,” Kenma says, then sighs. He looks out at the café filled with happy couples, and breathes deeply in as the door opens to reveal Tendou and Ushijima. 

“Imagine having Kuroo as your valentine,” Kiyoko says, then snorts. “I would rather be lonely.” 

Kenma laughs alongside her, but he doesn’t agree and he knows deep down that he feels maybe a little something for Kuroo. He awkwardly replies, “Ah, at least he’s sweet. And warm.” 

Kiyoko purses her lips, about to respond. She stops herself though as their two regular customers approach her and Kenma standing at the register. She smiles at them, then looks briefly at Kenma who blushes at the sight of Ushijima. 

Tendou grins. “Happy Valentine’s Day, I brought you a rose.” 

The redhead pulls a rose from behind it and hands it to Kenma, who accepts with a soft grin. “That’s very sweet of you.” 

“Oh Kenma, looks like you could have a date!” Kiyoko whispers, elbowing Kenma in the ribs. Tendou hears it and laughs. 

“He’s not interested in me,” The latter says, watching with a goofy grin as Kenma writes down his usual order onto a plastic cup. Kenma still wears a blush as Ushijima silently watches him. 

“Why not?” Kiyoko asks Tendou, briefly looking over Kenma’s shoulder at the order so she can type it into the register for a receipt. 

Kenma hands her the cup and starts on Ushijima. He raises his head, albeit very mellow, and whispers, “Just the usual?” 

Ushijima nods. “Thank you,” He replies with a deep, smooth chocolate voice. It rings in Kenma’s head and he swallows it in his throat with a pleasant smile. 

“Alright.” Kenma hands the second cup to Kiyoko. 

“Are you paying together or separate?” She asks the pair, after she rolls her eyes at Kenma gazing at Ushijima with obvious and oblivious heart eyes. 

“Together,” Ushijima says before Tendou can reply. He reaches into his pocket and pushes his friend's hand away as he hands a crumpled note to Kiyoko. She takes it, breaks it, and hands Ushijima his change. 

Tendou watches Ushijima’s interaction with a light smile on his face—just as Kenma wears. Kiyoko notices it but says nothing. 

She takes the cups and leaves Kenma to talk to the two boys. He slouches over the counter as he’s used to and grins. “How’s school going? I heard exams are this week.” 

Tendou shrugs. “I already had mine on Monday, it went really well. After I pass this course I’m moving to Paris.” 

Kenma cocks an eyebrow. “Paris? What for?” 

“I’m going to be a chocolatier,” Tendou says, grinning madly as he says so. It’s obvious that he’s proud of his accomplishments, Kenma can see it on his face. It makes the barista’s heart feel warm. 

He fiddles with the rose in his hand. It’s stripped of its thorns, and it's smooth enough for him to run his fingers up and down the stem. 

“That’s cool,” Kenma says, eventually setting the rose down on the counter. He smiles, then turns his head towards Ushijima. “Are you in school?” 

He shakes his head. “I’m playing volleyball for a Division 1 league.” 

Kenma cocks an eyebrow. “Really? Which team?” 

“Adlers.”

Kenma nods, eyes moving from Ushijima to Kiyoko who approaches the counter with the boys’ drinks. The two of them take their respective cups and take a sip at the same time. Kenma grins. 

“I’ll have to watch a game of yours sometime.” 

Ushijima blushes, Kenma winks at him in retaliation. 

“Well, I won’t keep you for much longer. Happy Valentine’s day,” Kenma says, eyes dropping to the counter. The two boys give thanks and sit down at a table together. Kenma watches as Ushijima hushedly talks to Tendou, who smiles and nods. 

Kenma sighs, watching the pair of them talk together. He thinks about Kuroo and their friendship, how he might sort of wish it was something more. 

Almost right after the thought of Kuroo plays in his head, the door opens to reveal him. He’s disheveled and looks like he had a rough morning. But when his eyes catch Kenma’s, he smiles brightly. 

He walks towards the counter where Kiyoko greets him with a frown. “You’re twenty minutes late! Boss is already pissed at you for the name tags, what the hell do you think she’ll do now?” 

Kuroo shrugs. “My car broke down.” 

Kenma snaps his head towards the two. His eyes widen and his teeth clench. “Your car broke down?” 

Kuroo nods. “Yeah, it got towed and I had to take the bus.” 

“And you’re only twenty minutes late?” 

“I left pretty early. Had some decorations I wanted to put up,” Kuroo says, pushing the door to the back room open. He walks through it, pursued by a worried Kenma. The door closes behind them. 

Kuroo puts his things on the metal rack beside Kenma’s. He turns his phone on silent and sighs as he grabs an apron from a lower shelf on the rack. He puts it over his head, Kenma watching the entire time. 

“Are you alright?” 

Kuroo shrugs. “Physically? Yeah. I’m pretty pissed though. I had some things I wanted to do before we opened, but I couldn’t.” 

“We can still do them now,” Kenma replies, softly smiling at Kuroo to reassure him that everything is alright, despite his car being broken and towed. 

“Yeah, well, I didn’t really want anyone to know it was me,” Kuroo says, tying his apron. He sighs. “It’s alright Kenma, really. How are you?” 

Kenma drops the subject, knowing the tone of Kuroo’s voice will just increase into stressed anger if he continues to push. He sighs as well. “I’m alright. Saw Tendou and Ushijima this morning. Ushijima blushed a lot.” 

Kuroo grins. “Too bad name tags still aren’t in, huh?” 

Kenma frowns. “We wouldn’t have had this problem if  _ someone _ didn’t step on my name tag and break it.”

Kuroo tips his hands up, still grinning deviously. “Sorry! I miscalculated how much weight it could take.” 

“It’s alright, I guess,” Kenma says, looking at the door. “We should go. It’s been busy since we got here.” 

The two of them walk through the door and into the café, which is crowded with people. Kenma sees Kiyoko at the register with a line of people behind her. 

Instinctually, he raises his hand up and says, “I can help whoever's next!” He takes himself to the other counter accompanied by a register. 

“Thanks, Kenma!” Kiyoko calls out from where she stands across the store. Her voice rings in the air and leaves Kenma to smile. He gives her a thumbs up as half of her line migrates to him.

The first person that greets him is Sugawara. The two exchange bright eyes and smiles. 

“How’s it going?” Kenma asks, pulling out a cup and writing down Sugawara’s coffee order. Sugawara watches him, beaming. 

“I’m alright. I’m actually going to try something new today.” 

Kenma stops writing, and grins. He looks up at Sugawara. “Oh yeah? What are you going to try?” 

Sugawara bites his lip. “Any recommendations? What do you guys that work here drink?” 

“Well,” Kenma begins, looking at the ceiling as he thinks. “Kiyoko over there alternates between green tea and iced cafe au lait with half and half creamer. Kuroo drinks any type of mocha because he’s a wuss baby that can’t handle strong coffee. And I usually go for an iced cappuccino with two shots of espresso, two pumps of irish cream, and one pump of dark chocolate.” 

“I’ll try what you like,” Sugawara replies. “Except change the two shots of espresso to one. I don’t need all of that this morning.” 

Kenma grins. “You got it. Sometimes I add a pump of peppermint extract, do you want that?” 

Sugawara shakes his head. “No, that’s alright.” 

Kenma writes his usual order on the cup, except changes the espresso amount. He writes it quickly as it’s not that complex and he has it memorized, then looks to Sugawara as he opens the register. “No Daichi today?” 

“No, he’s with his boyfriend. So I’m studying alone this morning.” The boy adjusts the strap of his bag on his shoulder and grins wearily. 

“Ah, I see,” Kenma says. He writes out a receipt and gratuitously takes the money that Sugawara hands him. “What exams are you studying for?” 

Sugawara shrugs. “All of them.” 

Kenma laughs. “Shit, man. You're still majoring in education?” He waves over Kuroo, who walks slowly to the counter. He takes the cup and receipt with a sigh.

“Yeah, I’m student teaching this year on top of my classes. Next year I graduate.” 

The brunet-blond barista nods. “Wish I knew how to figure my life out like that. What’s it like?” 

Sugawara snorts. “Boring.” 

Kenma snorts in reply. “Then why are you doing it?”

“I guess I’m just a boring person.” The customer sighs, grinning as Kuroo returns within a few moments holding his drink. “Thanks!”

Kuroo nods. “Yeah, no problem! I’m not as good at making drinks as Kenma here, but I hope it’s at least alright.” 

“I’m sure it’s great!” Sugawara chimes, to which Kenma rolls his eyes. 

“I highly doubt it’ll be any good. If it tastes like shit, bring it back to me and I’ll remake it for you on the house.” 

Kuroo’s mouth falls open in what he will call ‘betrayal’. It garners a laugh from Sugawara though, so Kenma feels the offer was worth it. He grins slightly as his customer thanks him before retreating to a booth where he sits alone. Kenma watches as he lugs his satchel bag onto the table and rummages through it, pulling out a laptop. 

Kuroo notices Kenma’s eyes as they rest lightly on Sugawara, soon working on homework and typing on his laptop quickly. He takes only a few breaks to sip his drink, which seems to be at the least drinkable when he puts it back down. 

“He’s kind of cute, you think?” Kuroo asks, to which Kenma perks up. 

“Uh, I mean,” Kenma begins, a wide blush spreading over his cheeks as Kuroo looks down at him with his heavily-lidded brown eyes. Kenma feels his breath catch in his throat. “He’s alright, but…” 

_ He’s not as cute as you _ , is what Kenma almost says. He catches himself though, biting his lip to keep the statement from bubbling out of his lungs. He really was a hopeless romantic. 

“But… what?” Kuroo asks, a sly smirk finding its way onto his lips. He leans on the counter all too close to Kenma, enjoying the flushed cheeks that his best friend wears. 

“I don’t think he’s the one for me,” Kenma coughs, receding to look at the ‘interesting’ tile of the dirty cafe floor. He rests his eyes on one particular coffee stain and takes a deep breath. “There’s someone else I think I want it to be.”

Kuroo leans in all the closer to Kenma. His breath is hot on Kenma’s cold neck, it creates goosebumps on his shivering skin. He squeezes his eyes shut as Kuroo’s jaw brushes against his ear. “Who do you want it to be?”

The silence between the two of them is almost deadly, it explodes in Kenma’s stomach and threatens to come out in a teary-eyed confession that Kenma doesn’t even know he has inside of him.

Kenma is about to bullshit a reply, thinking heavily with his bottom lip close to bleeding beneath the pressure of his teeth, when Kuroo suddenly stands upright. 

“I guess I’ll have to find out myself,” Kuroo says with a wink, letting his hand linger a little bit too long on the small of Kenma’s back. He brushes it downward, grasping the low of Kenma’s hip before he walks away, leaving Kenma in an awestruck daze. 

Kenma remains hazy with an ocean blowing around in his head for the rest of his shift. He sees most of his regulars, but he’s too busy thinking about Kuroo to notice who shows up and who doesn’t. He knows Kiyoko would be so upset if she knew he was blowing off their plan, so he opts not to tell her about the encounter with Kuroo, or, with anyone. 

With thirty minutes until close, Kiyoko approaches Kenma with a quizzical look upon her soft, doll face. She grips his arm so tightly that he can’t feel his blood circulation for a few seconds. 

“What the hell is up with you today?” She spits, tired and sick of smelling like the flowers that were delivered to her this morning. “You would think since it’s fucking Valentine’s day you would pay more attention and not act like a complete and utter little bitch.” 

Kenma looks at her and purses his lips. “What do you mean? I haven’t been a bitch to anyone!”

“Yeah, well, you aren’t acting like Kenma. You totally blew Kunimi off when he tried to hold a conversation with you!”

Kenma cocks his head. “I did that?” 

“Yes!” Kiyoko yells, throwing the broom in her hand down on the floor. “What the hell is up with you?” 

Kenma shrugs, though he knows exactly what is up with him. 

He bathes in the uncomfortable silence between him and Kiyoko with a long, drawled breath escaping his lips. He closes his eyes and opens them slowly, looking at his coworker for a brief moment before looking around the store. There is no Kuroo in sight, so he moves closer to Kiyoko and braves himself for saying what he found out today aloud. 

“I think I’m in love with Kuroo.”

Kiyoko blinks a few times, then knits her eyebrows together. 

“I don’t understand.”

“I want the person writing the notes… to be Kuroo.” 

His coworker drops her mouth in the shape of an ‘O’, nodding a few times before looking at the ceiling in deep thought. 

She picks the broom up off the floor and begins to sweep, talking to Kenma as he leans on the front counter uncomfortably. “But your secret admirer doesn’t even know your name, Kenma.”

“What if he does?”

Kiyoko shrugs. “I don’t know why he would lie about not knowing your name.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want me to know it’s him.”

“Kenma, I don’t think Kuroo is the secret admirer you’re looking at.” 

Kenma takes a deep breath, about to reply in protest when the door to the back room flies open. There appears a yawning Kuroo, the key to the door in his hand. 

Kuroo looks at the pair of his coworkers and then away, looking as if he hadn’t heard a single word that was spoken while he counted the store’s money box in the back office. Which, he hadn’t. He hadn’t heard anything, and it rings evident when he snakes past his coworkers and lets his fingertips drag over Kenma’s hand as he walks toward the front door. He locks it with a grin and looks back at the two baristas closing with him. 

“I just want to go home and sleep. Fuck this Valentine’s day shit, you know?” Kuroo calls out, stopping at the front register to lock out for the night. He looks up briefly from the register to smile at Kenma and Kiyoko, then he looks back down. “You think your secret admirer will have something to say today, Kenma?”

Kenma shrugs. “Maybe,” He says, the words escaping his mouth as his heart beats faster and bubbles up in his throat. He hides an excited smile. 

“Are we all finished cleaning? Or do we need a few more minutes?”

Kiyoko shakes her head. “Just grab the trash and the box. I’m going to mop really quick, you guys can start looking through the notes.”

The two boys nod, one grabbing the trash bag sitting by the front register and the other grabbing the wooden box from its perch atop the other register’s desk. They move towards the store from different sides of the counter and sit down together at a booth. 

Kuroo grins. “Are you ready?” 

Kenma nods. 

With that, the former spills the contents of the box onto the table. There are noticeably more today, Kenma guesses it’s due to the higher amount of customers that came in today. 

“If I see sap, I’m going to puke right here on this table,” Kuroo jokes, then fakes retching to try and make Kenma laugh. He just smiles though, infatuated with the bright grin that ravages Kuroo’s face. 

The two begin to look through the notes, scrapping almost all of them. Kuroo doesn’t puke; though a pretty amount of the little letters are sappy about their lovers and how lucky they are to have had such a great Valentine’s date at the cafe. Kenma reads through them quickly, though his heartstrings tug at one another with the feeling of loneliness. He wishes he had someone to love like this. 

Kiyoko joins them soon after they begin, she’s not very talkative tonight either. She hurries up and scraps carelessly, leaving Kuroo to remind her to slow down in case she stumbles across a note from Kenma’s secret admirer. She groans and rolls her eyes, about to tell Kuroo that Kenma has a crush on someone else, but then she stops once she realizes that Kuroo  _ is  _ the someone else that Kenma has a crush on. 

As if fate had needed a laugh, Kenma picks up a note with familiar handwriting right after Kiyoko finishes arguing with Kuroo. 

Purple pen, chicken-scratch handwriting. The note is cold, and crumbled. Kenma’s heart jumps as he flattens it out to read. 

**_Date_ ** _ : valentine’s day!!!  _

**_Please leave your suggestion for ‘The Moon Cafe’ in the space below_ ** _ :  _

_ happy valentine’s day kenma!!! i was super excited to see you today, even though it felt kind of awkward since im so in love with you and you don’t even know. i hope you have a great rest of your day, thank you for being so kind to me always! you make my day every time i come in, even though i dont even need all the coffee lol. love you!  _

Kenma looks up to see both Kiyoko and Kuroo staring at him intensely, waiting for him to say something. He holds the note tightly against his heart.

“He said he loves me.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao i didn’t edit this sorry!! wanted to get something out to you guys. thanks for the wait, hopefully i’ll be better at updating the last six chapters. sorry this one was shorter than the others, too. love u! 
> 
> leave a comment telling me what you think! 
> 
> \- kel


End file.
